Hollow Hearts
by Thelonepickle
Summary: Heartless. They infest the worlds seeking hearts. They make your skin crawl. Their creator, however, is a bit different. This is his story. It all started when they started studying the darkness of hearts... Mild KH2 Spoilers
1. Prologue: Part 1

**Disclaimer: **As much as I'd love to claim it, nothing Kingdom Hearts belongs to me. Hollow is my character, but I don't own ANYTHING from Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, or Kingdom Hearts Two. I do, however, love the games. :3

**THERE ARE KINGDOM HEARTS TWO SPOILERS, THOUGH THEY'RE KINDA MILD.**

**A/N: **This fan fiction is about the creator of the Heartless. I KNOW it's not true. If you have your own theories about this, and you're that uptight about it, don't read it.

The rest of you… Enjoy! -

-

It started years ago. He was just a baby. Hollow's nineteen now, but we have to go back to before then. When the creator of the creatures you've learned to despise, the creatures you've _hated _for so long, was just an infant. Never has there been a tale more tragic. Most don't believe it's enough to redeem him, though. I'll let you decide.

Ansem the Wise let himself wander around in the cobble-stoned town square of Hollow Bastion. Walls of smooth rock and cool bricks surrounded him as shopkeepers' voices pierced the afternoon air like knives through butter, calling customers to their stalls in hopes of finding bargains, deals, and luck.

Strolling through the peaceful world, watching the occasional rat scurry into an unseen hideout, the man didn't find anything worth buying. His mind, as always, was concentrating on his work, not his path. The "Wise" man, as he'd been dubbed, was thinking about, as he did for countless hours, the darkness of the heart. Immersed in his work even when he wasn't staring at paperwork and experiments, the scientist stumbled over a small bundle, not surprised. Turning to see what he'd stumbled on, the man remained on all fours as he discovered an infant.

Wrapped in a brown, tattered cloth, the baby wept silently, large tears that craved for attention. The Wise one stared at it, amazed and disturbed by the fact that someone would leave their child in the middle of an open market with busy people crowding around every shop and walking so cramped together. He scooped the child up in his arms, staring looking for some kind of identification. He didn't know what he expected to find, and he found himself feeling foolish for such thoughts.

But he did find something. Attached to the child's wrist, hanging from a small band of leather, was a note. His large fingers clumsily fumbled around the notes tiny edges; it was a small note, Ansem realized. It only bore two words:

_I can't._

Ansem understood, even if he didn't want to. This child had been abandoned. He stared into its pale face. Blonde hair- shockingly blonde- and pale, pale blue eyes adorned the baby's face. The eyes looked almost purple in this lighting. Was it the lighting? The baby was tiny. How long had it been there?

Wrapping the cloth around it tighter, Ansem looked around, nervously. The last thing he wanted to happen was an accusation of kidnap, when this was so clearly a rescue. The baby stared up at him with an accusatory stare. He looked into its eyes curiously. What a strange child it was. Male. He could tell, at least, that the child was male. Its face was too sharp to be female. Little Enigma stared up at Ansem, glaring, still, until they made it to his lab. He fashioned a makeshift crib for it, letting it rock back and forth in the small, wooden heap.

Xenahort flew into the room, long ivory hair sweeping into the room. He looked angry. Standing in the middle of the medium-sized room, he glared at Ansem. Not noticing the baby, he started to yell, to the bewilderment of his superior.

"Ansem," he demanded. "Human-testing… It's nothing bad, especially if I volunteer. I'll put it in writing, but come _on. _I want our studies to actually result in some answers. If you can't take this seriously, how can you-"

"-Xenahort. There's a baby present. Being a little more observant wouldn't hurt you, you know," Ansem said, amused. He picked up the baby and sat it on his knee. It glared up at Xenahort. He backed away from him.

"What's that?" Xenahort asked lamely. He sat down in an old wooden chair, pulling it up so that he faced Ansem. Ansem raised an eyebrow.

"We call this an infant."

"I call it a hassle. Does he have a name? And where'd he get that spiffy wardrobe?"

Ansem took the remark as a compliment. "Yes, I suppose the boy's dressed rather… Oddly. But it was all we had in his size, so it'll have to do. As for a name, I haven't decided yet."

Ansem gave the child an appraising look. "What do you think, Xenahort?"

The assistant stared at the child. Clothed in a shrunken lab coat with matching trousers, the baby looked even paler. Xenahort considered him kind of annoying.

"Hmm. Healthy looking thing, eh? Where'd you find him? Here? Well, in that case, tradition demands that we name him Sebastian."

"Maybe that'll be a last name. I think he looks like a Dione." Ansem seemed pleased with the name. The baby just looked up, surprised. Xenahort, feeling annoyed at having been turned down, decided to cut down the baby.

"He looks hollow to me. No emotion whatsoever."

"Mmm. Hollow. Not a bad nickname."

"You have odd taste."

"Yes, well. It's not exactly a flaw."

Xenahort gave the child a disapproving look. "Well, Hollow, Ansem, I think I'll go set up the equipment."

"Xenahort. We're not going to test you. The press would have a field day," Ansem said it sternly. He swiveled in his chair, giving Hollow a start. The boy hiccupped in surprise.

"The other assistants will want to see the child. You don't mind playing baby-sitter, do you, Xenahort? Hollow doesn't bite." Ansem tickled the child, who let out a growl as a response.

Xenahort took the child awkwardly. He carried the child out of the room. Ansem went back to his work.

Flying through the halls angrily, Xenahort paid no attention to the child's needs. He took it to the lab. It seemed to blend in with all the white. Hollow sat on the counter, where Xenahort had placed him. Staring around the huge room, he watched, blinking, as several others approached him.

"Who is that?" One of the assistants was staring at Hollow as if he were an alien.

"Little monkey for us to test on?" Joked another.

"Whatever. Are we being paid to watch it?" An annoyed voice spoke up from the back. Hollow, distracted by test tubes and beakers full of strange liquids, was content for the moment, though he didn't like how many people were in the room.

"He's Annie's favourite, it looks like," Xenahort said, in a foul mood. Someone walked up, challenging him.

"Well, Xenny, do we detect some jealousy? We all know you were kissing up to the boss in hopes that you'd get that grant for human test subjects. You even volunteered. How sweet."

"Shut your mouth," Xenahort snarled. "Just get back to the studies. Maybe this child will prove useful."

"You're not suggesting that we run tests on a _baby _from now on?" asked the voice that was overly critical of Xenahort. He laughed.

"No, not yet. He's too young, now. Let's give Ansem a little while to get attached."

The other assistants stared at Xenahort. He was serious. They glanced nervously at the baby. "What is he, about a year old?"

"I'm guessing ten months. Wait two more. We'll see if Hollow has any darkness in his blessed little heart."

The assistants knew how cruel Xenahort was, but they didn't know that he was this resentful of Ansem. That he would, if it meant getting back at his superior for the simplest thing, he would torture a baby.

But, they would wait. Because in this organization, if you didn't form alliances with the strong now, they'd eat you alive later.

-

Three months and one week later, the assistants had forgotten their shame and guilt. According to Xenahort, Hollow was "sick" and he needed to "rest". At least, that was what he told Ansem. The fool was worried, so he didn't question it. He wanted to visit, but apparently the virus was contagious.

Two assistants giggled excitedly at the new creation. Hollow was walking, but he didn't speak. There were drastic changes in his appearance now. Hollow had changed, the experiments proved successful, and the assistants were writing it all down.

The infant was proving very useful. As they tested him and manipulated the darkness of his heart, they took notes down and made it seem as if the conclusions had revealed themselves through the testing of Xenahort. Ansem supervised from afar, approving the experiments they asked him if they could try. He had only agreed to human testing if Xenahort's safety wasn't in jeopardy. And it wasn't. It was Hollow's.

The boy had changed dramatically. His ivory hair turned jet black. An ebony mess attached to a still pale body. Pale… For the most part. From his elbows down, Hollow's skin turned black and softened. His hands, large and deformed, resembled huge mangled claws and were just as sharp. Disproportionate to his body, they were irregularly large for his arms and body. Pointed ebony ears adorned his head, and they were truly sensitive. The darkness of his heart had taken over, it seemed.

Operation Hollow Hearts was successful. You could multiply the darkness in one's heart. The effects were set in stone and couldn't be changed. They didn't know if they could do it again. Still, they presented the results to Ansem, still claiming that Hollow was sick.

Ansem stared at their results, nodding until he saw the part about physical changes. About the razour sharp teeth and talon-like hands. When he read about the glowing yellow eyes, he demanded that the information should be burned. They obliged, not worried.

They burned the results. They did not burn Hollow. Instead, they sent him away for safety, telling Ansem that he'd been taken in the night, and that they were desperately searching for the cretins who'd taken him. He was sorrowful for a long time. He mourned forever, consoled only by his friend, Mickey. He then set out to find the boy he'd lost. His son.

The assistants, however, had hidden him well. Stranded on a little world covered in darkness and gloom, Hollow, who'd just seen one year, wouldn't be rediscovered for three more.


	2. Prologue: Part 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts ANYTHING. Hollow, the character belongs to me, and his story and such, but yeah. Other than that, it's not mine. If I owned Kingdom Hearts, KH: CoM, or KH2, Sora would've realized that his old clothes were too small WAY before some old guy told him. That's just wrong.

**TO MAH REVIEWERS: **Thank you. :D That's it. Oh, you wanna know what's cool? Finding out that you've been spelling "Xehanort" wrong. Noice, no? . ;

Enjoy chapter 2!

To be fair, Halloween Town wasn't a bad place to live. Even Hollow thought it was okay. But he would choose being Ansem's son over living in that place any day. He didn't hate it when he was young. Some of the citizens there didn't care for him, but the assistants had persuaded the villagers to keep Hollow there. They had seemed like good people, and the child would fit in. He adjusted well, and there wasn't a problem. Until he started asking about his parents.

He was three years old then. His hair seemed to be getting darker. Blacker than black. His gleaming yellow orbs pierced through the night sky, the light shining through faintly even when he closed his eyes. In the midnight sky, that was all you could see. The Vampires, still eating their meals in the dark, would see those glowing beacons of light and think, "_Hollow's playing again. Doesn't he ever sleep?"_

Hollow would bounce along the hills in the graveyard, laughing to himself. Always he would bob along until he came upon Jack and Sally. The rag doll and skeleton sat on the old hill in the graveyard with all the pumpkins, and together they'd watch the moon. Hollow thought this was boring.

When he found them, he always asked them questions. On that day, he asked them a new one. Usually, he asked about what stars were made of, who would wear red shorts when they're so ugly, and about Oogie Boogie. Today, he inquired about his parents.

"I have to have had some, Jack." The boy spoke with a knowledgeable tone. He nodded, as if confirming it. "Everyone has parents."

"You don't want to hear about your parents," Jack said nervously. Only his sweetheart could tell that he was nervous. He spoke with the same grand tone he used to talk about everything. "Your parents were kind of an enigma."

"I don't know what that means, but I do know that you're changing the bush."

"Beating around the bush and changing the subject?"

"Yes. Those two. Now, my parents."

Sally glanced apprehensively at Jack. He shrugged. She quickly spoke up. "Hollow, your parents are gone."

"Well, where'd they go? How come they didn't take me with?"

"They're dead, Hollow." Jack was sad for once. It scared Hollow, a little. His yellow orbs glowed with confusion?

"What's… Dead?" Hollow asked. He, like most small children, could not comprehend the word. Jack was dead. Jack still walked around and such. Why was this different? Jack and Sally looked nervous. Sally saved Jack at the last second.

"Hollow, your parents are dead in a different way. They can't come back, because they weren't magical." She thought that down-talking Hollow's parents would make him miss them less. Instead, she was surprised to see the boy glare at her.

"I don't believe in magic," the little boy said, glowering at Sally. "What were their names?"

"Light and Faith," Jack blurted out. "They're dead. Always will be."

Hollow considered this. "Light and Faith are dead and always will be. They can't come back. There is no Light. There is no Faith."

Sally looked nervously at Jack. Jack stared back at Sally, shrugging desperately. Hollow didn't notice. For once, the boy strolled off without laughing, without bouncing through the graveyard. He walked away and was… Different. He was never quite as happy then.

After that incident, Hollow could always be found muttering to himself, "Light is dead. No more Faith." Soon, it turned into "The light is gone. There is no more faith." He'd engraved it into his soul, mind, and heart. He wasn't pleasant anymore. He never smiled. Crying at night, he made Heartless in huge numbers.

But one day, he stopped crying. Hollow was full of smiles and grins again. The villagers noticed it. He was dancing through the hills again, strange creatures bobbing in the air behind him or crawling on the floor beside him. Maybe he wouldn't be so gosh darn depressing anymore. _Honestly_, the villagers all thought, _being dead doesn't mean being_ boring. They hoped that Hollow had snapped out of it by now.

Jack and Sally went to the boy, holding hands, which he detested. Still, Hollow smiled. They found it curious and even a little disturbing. When asked what was going on, Hollow replied that it was his birthday.

"It is?" Sally asked doubtfully. Jack frowned down at Hollow. The boy stared up at them, anger in his eyes and a smile on his mouth.

"It is. I am four years old today, and something is going to happen."

"What is?" Sally asked, thinking that Hollow was making it up.

"I don't know. Something good. Maybe you'll leave me alone."

They didn't know how to respond, so they left. As soon as they did, Hollow turned to the figure they couldn't see. He made sure he couldn't hear their footsteps any longer, made sure he couldn't see their shadows.

"Ansem. You're back."

The man in the dark cloak removed his hood, revealing a long blonde mane. He smiled down at Hollow and hugged the small boy. There was happiness in his eyes. "You remember?"

Hollow frowned. "No."

Ansem stood back. "Are you sure? Who am I?"

Anger flashed across Hollow's face. He glared up at Ansem. He was about to tell him that he didn't know, but the word that came out of his mouth was "Father". He looked shocked at himself. Peering up at Ansem's face, he asked in awe, "Father?"

Ansem seemed pleased enough. "Hollow, you remember me. The six assistants. Xenahort. You do remember. Listen, Hollow." Ansem's tone changed. He was serious now. It almost scared Hollow. He took the small boy by the shoulders. "Hollow, they betrayed you. They took you from me; they brought out the darkness in your heart. We can fix it now, Hollow. You're four now, aren't you? You look it. You look four. We have to go back now, Hollow, do you understand?"

Hollow stared down into his hand, where he held the pointed heart charm given to him by someone he'd forgotten. It didn't matter much. She was gone. But she was a girl, so it didn't matter-

"I understand," he said. "We have to go… To make them pay." Hollow stared up at Ansem, who nodded. Then they were off.


	3. Prologue: Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, or Kingdom Hearts 2. I do not own any worlds or anything belonging to Disney. The character Hollow is mine. D**

To My Reviewers: Hey, I'm updating twice in one day and no reviews? This is so flattering. But those of you who reviewed get…pasta. Lots of pasta. THANK GOODNESS THIS IS THE LAST LITTLE-KID POSTIN' CHAPTER. I. HATE. WRITING. ABOUT. KIDS. AND. DOING. THIS. WEIRD. ONE. WORD. PER. SENTENCE. THING. .. Caps Lock is going to sue me now. . ;

Hollow had never been on a gummi before. He was just four years old then, so he mostly clung the red robes that Ansem now wore, shivering just a little at the thought of being away from any planets. Hollow remembered to call Ansem "DiZ" when they got to…where were they going?

"You don't remember it, but we have to go to Radient Garden. Well, they call it Hollow Bastion now. Like your nickname and last name."

"I don't have a last name," Hollow protested. "And the only nickname I have is when the others in Halloween Town call me Hallow. Jack and Sally didn't call me Hallow, though. But the others did."

Ansem stared at Hollow, mystified that he didn't even know his real name. Shaking his head and chuckling a little, he pulled some sea-salt ice cream out of the miniature freezer in the small cockpit of the gummi. Handing Hollow one and immediately licking his own, he watched amused as the little boy unwrapped the ice cream.

Pressing the blue bar to his tongue, Hollow winced at the sweet taste. Still, as he grimaced in disgust (to the amusement of Ansem), Hollow detected a salty flavor embedded in the ice cream. He thoughtfully put the bar of sky blue into his mouth, not breaking a part of it off, just tasting, analyzing with his mouth. He listened as Ansem spoke.

"Now, when we get there, we have to try to talk to them. Violence will always result in horrors untold if you are fighting with a former friend. Their wounds will be deep, and they'll want revenge."

Hollow nodded, not understanding or particularly caring about what Ansem was saying. If he'd known it would be their last peaceful conversation for an unimaginably long time, he would've tried to be a little more considerate.

At some point, Hollow fell asleep. He dreamed of a bright light swallowing Ansem. When he awoke and told Ansem of his dream, just before they landed, his father told him that the dream must've been a pleasant one. Hollow was unsure. The dream—no, the light had made him feel uncomfortable and scared.

"We're here," Ansem said. They stepped out of the ship and were immediately bombarded by a group of tall, slender beings in dark coats. Hoods were drawn up over the people's heads, and they each held a menacing, customized weapon in their hands. Hollow, to his distress, was immediately separated from Ansem, which terrified the four year-old. He started to cry, not being able to help himself. Huge, black tears rolled down his eyes, though his sobs were silent.

Then Hollow saw the worst sight he'd ever been witness to. Ansem was staring at him with tears in his eyes, looking as if Hollow had died. The four year-old misinterpreted the message. His next words were just above a whisper.

"Are you… Mad at me?"

They must not have heard him. The little boy's tears stopped falling, and it was as if a part of him had died inside, seeing that look on Ansem's face. That look made Hollow feel like he had let Ansem down. He'd had a father for less than six hours, and now his father hated him?

A redhead grabbed Hollow by the arm, wrenching the little boy upwards. His hood was down, he was stroking his crimson locks, emerald eyes flashing in the sunlight. Hollow stared up at him, watching the man grin towards the sky.

"Why are you smiling?" Hollow asked. It barely came out as a question. His voice was hoarse, dull, uninterested and critical. The redhead stared down at him.

"You look like a little gopher." The redhead ran a hand through his hair, laughing in a young-sounding voice. "My name's Axel. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" Axel stared down at the little boy, grinning, though his eyes glared down. He wasn't that old.

"You look like a hedge-hog, Hedge-hog," Hollow sneered back. Axel laughed it off, but he actually looked a little uncomfortable. Kneeling down to Hollow, whose arm was still being gripped by Axel, the redhead muttered, "C'mon, kid. You're what, four? Five? You're supposed to be all…happy and stuff."

Hollow looked around. Ansem was being yelled at by Xehanort; a silver-haired man who was referring to _himself _as Ansem. Other people were discussing the "darkness of the heart experiments" as a near success. Hollow squinted, wondering if he knew about these experiments. "To tell you the truth," Hollow murmured, "this isn't exactly my idea of a birthday party."

Axel shrugged. "Whatever, Gopher. We were supposed to torture you until you snapped out of that 'Happy-little-rodent' mode, but you being like this makes it easier."

Hollow ignored the man. A blue-silver haired man with bangs thrown over one eye walked up besides Axel. He whispered something about the final test. The Nobody test?

"Hey, ya know, kid. If you don't hurry up and do something, that Ansem the Wise guy's gonna be sleepin' with the fishes, if you know what I mean. Dead. Pushin' up daisies." Axel raised his eyebrows, giving Hollow a look that said he knew what he was doing. "He's dying."

It's easy to lie to children. They believe it, when they're that young. Hollow's head snapped automatically, remembering the fake parents Jack and Sally had told him about. How they could never came back. He didn't want that to happen to Ansem, even if he did hate Hollow. Jack and Sally had lied, but they hadn't lied about _death_. Hollow suddenly wrenched his arm out of Axel's grip.

"Daddy!" He shouted, running as fast as his legs could take him towards his father. A smaller cloaked person threw off her hood. She had blonde hair, with two bangs that fell down like antennae. She threw long, slender kunai knives at Hollow. They ripped past his flesh, a few of them raking into his skin and staying there. Silvery blood poured down his back, making his eyes widen.

Then he remembered that he had claws. Flinging an ebony hand out, stiff, jagged fingers tearing through flesh, Hollow blindly let his hand fly through anyone who touched him. Turning to see who it was, he stepped back, gasping.

Ansem was lying down on the ground, silver colored blood mixing with his own crimson. Hollow stared down in horror as the silver blood flew through the rogue shade of Ansem's. His father stared at him, too, confusion and hurt in his eyes.

"What's this… Hollow? What have you done to me?" Ansem didn't know either? How could _Ansem _not know? What _was _happening? Axel answered.

"You're turning into what we like to call a Nobody, Ansem. Hollow's blood carries a special chemical that doubles as a silver-coloured pigment. It's what dyes his blood that colour, and what will dissolve your heart faster than you can memorize it." The crimson haired youth rubbed his head. "And then, the spores from the mix will float into the air, and we'll bottle them and infest the worlds with the combination. That way, everyone who turns into a Heartless will also turn into a Nobody under _our _control. It's science.

"Of course, we have a vaccine that we'll administer to ourselves before we release the spores. Even's got it right now."

"Axel, stop telling them our plans," Even sneered. He had greasy brown hair, long, and a sneering rat-face. It was annoying to Hollow, but he listened as Ansem gasped for breath. Immediately, Hollow found himself breaking down bonds with his father. He was already letting go. He had no faith in his father's recovery – because there was no faith. Something Hollow had told himself for a long time.

"When you're only thirteen, you don't make decisions in this group, Axel," Arlene said, sneering at him.

"Shut up, Arlene! You're not that much older than I am!"

Hollow glared suddenly as Ansem stared at his son. These people had tricked Hollow into hurting his father. He was going to be worse than dead because of Hollow. The yellow-eyed boy could already see that his father's heart was disintegrating, which was obviously very painful. Hollow glared at Ansem, but his eyes were full of sorrow, too. "Soon you'll be reborn into a Nobody, and that's better than death, right?"

Ansem stared at him. He rubbed Hollow's hair before saying, "No, my pride and joy… It's worse. You might as well have killed me."

Then, he was unconscious. He would sleep until he'd turn into a Nobody, a being without a heart, but nobody knew what would happen while he was unconscious. Hollow rounded on those others, still arguing about that stupid Hedge-hog boy.

"You guys are going to suffer the same fate as my father." Hollow leapt at Even, grabbing the potion out of his hand and letting his black claws smash through the glass. He watched as the potion sizzled on the ground. Hollow stared at the others.

"I'm getting out of here before the explosion." Hollow crept slowly to the gummi. He was crawling, for he still had gashes and wounds all over his body, he realized. The Organization of assistants had hurt him badly.

But Ansem was alive. He was mad at Hollow, but Hollow told himself that he wouldn't need him anymore. He noticed that tears were falling down his face, but he forbade himself to cry for anyone else again. He would have no emotional attachment, because that was weakness. Nobody was a friend. Maybe there were some who weren't enemies, but no one was a friend. He knew this in his heart as a part of it died. He knew it as an explosion swept over the world, knocking him unconscious. No one was a friend.

Hollow woke up in a white room, surrounded by people in tall chairs. They were in a circular room, and they glared down at him, angry with him.

"Arlene, right?" Hollow asked, standing. The blonde-haired girl tried to kill him with her eyes, pulling at an antennae. There were holes on her forearm. She had turned to drugs in her sorrows.

"No, it's Larxene now. An anagram, but we add the X." Hollow raised an eyebrow.

"So, you're Nobodies, too. I figured. Ansem told me, before he became a Nobody, DiZ, he called himself, told me that he was a Heartless, and that there was going to be an explosion. But I'd be alright, because the chemicals came from my blood. You're all Nobodies now. It's because you hurt me and Ansem. I could've saved you, but I didn't. And now your plans are ruined."

"Not quite, you brat. We're dropping you back off on your little Halloween Town, but we've already let the spores infest the other worlds. So we're Nobodies. So what? We've still gotten control of anything that turns into a Nobody. We are in charge."

"I don't care. I'll remember this and kill you all," Hollow said. It was weird, having that four-year-old vow to kill them, but they didn't care. Hollow was not a threat. Arlene- Larxene grabbed him by the shoulders, having leapt from her seat.

"You're coming with me, kid. Say goodbye to your memories." Hollow remembered that she injected him with something, and then he was unconscious.

He woke up in Halloween Town, and he couldn't remember a thing. As far as he was concerned, he was still four, and there had never been an Ansem, and the villagers weren't going to tell "Hallow" that he'd been gone.

He wasn't happy, though. Something had happened. Everyone thought he was dead inside. It disturbed them, which was even more frightening, because they were used to death and such. But it was such a change for Hollow to be this way. They ignored him for a long time. They pretended he had never left, and he grew up, still murmuring "Light's dead. No more faith." They were used to that chant by now, and it had never left him. They wondered if it ever would.


	4. Chapter 1: The First Chapter

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. As usual. 'Cept Hollow. And his weirdo powersh. O And… I… Have… .. Akira Tosiyama's star pillow. And if she wants it back, she's gonna have to… Eat somethin' weird.**

BAM. A knock at the door before it was kicked open, and a figure dressed in black approached Hollow's bed. It was that idiot Hedge-Hog again. Hollow muttered curses in his head as he pulled the covers over his head. It didn't do any good.

"Rise and shine, Gopher!" Axel's all too cheery voice piped up. He grabbed a nearby pillow, swinging it into the back of Hollow's head. The dark-haired had-been-sleeping boy wouldn't give a groan. He wouldn't give Axel that satisfaction. He rolled over in his blankets, wanting to kill Axel for all this trouble.

"Aw. He's tired. I'm sorry. Does poor little Have-a-Heart wanna sleep just a little longer?" Axel asked it in too sweet a voice. He ran a hand through his own crimson, long hair. "Too bad. Get up, idiot."

Hollow couldn't stand anymore. He kicked the white sheets off of his legs, tore the comforter off, and stood up, staring down at Axel. The ruby-haired fool just laughed, rubbing a fake tear away as he pretended to double over.

"So you've got, what, an inch on me? I don't care, Hollow. I could still destroy you." He folded his arms. "Because I'm awesome. Got it memorized?"

It enraged Hollow that he was getting so upset about this. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable in Axel's presence, which irritated him further. He pushed the Hedgehog away from him. "I need to change. Get out."

"Aww. You don't want to stay in your pajamas all day, your highness?" Axel asked in mock tenderness. He walked out of the room, though, as Hollow grabbed an old steak knife from an abandoned plate on his dresser.

Finally that fool was gone. It'd been just a few weeks since they'd captured Hollow and put him in this... Place. It was annoying, and he hated it here.

Hollow was seventeen now. He was tall - Just over six feet and still growing. His hair had gotten darker, if that was possible, and his eyes still held that mysterious sun-coloured light. His features were sharp, and his skin was just under looking healthy. He didn't see anything especially good about his face, and he paid no attention to it, but he'd seen Larxene stare at him for a good long time once or twice. It annoyed him, and she was always getting on his nerves.

The people here made his skin crawl. All the sudden, out of the blue, they'd found him and restored all his memories. He remembered killing his father, or at least, making him suffer something worse than death. He remembered making nobodies out of them, and he could recall hiding from them on Halloween Town, though he didn't know he was hiding. He grew up there, and then this "Organization" captured him. Found him, and now they were running tests. On his friends. On the Heartless.

The Heartless. That was their name for them. He'd never named them. He just made them. The day after he was dropped back in Halloween Town, Hollow realized that when he cried, he created things. Things that came in dark, swirling pools of darkness. The things that wanted very much to please Hollow, and they only wanted his love.

He was lonely. He loved them, because they were his best friends and only companions. That was the only thing that kept him sane. No one talked to him in Halloween Town. But now, he could talk to the Heartless, and no one else knew what they were saying. Only him.

He must've been four. It started with Shadows, but it grew. He made more, and different species, and colours, and everything he wanted. They helped him, acted like he was their King, and he only wanted them to love him. They were equals in his mind, but they secretly adored Hollow. He loved it.

Hollow couldn't shake away those feelings, because he still had them. He loved the Heartless. They were his only friends in this place, too. Axel, Larxene, and those others... They annoyed Hollow. His only reprieve was in his room, where he took his meals, where he stayed most of the time. Sometimes, though, Marluxia and others would call him out, and he would be forced to be in their company.

So he used them. He analyzed them, found their weaknesses, let them trust him, and then he tore it away. And they were so distraught by the whole thing that they were vulnerable, and they let him do it again. Anything for his attention, because he was so mysterious and uncaring. It was pathetic, but it strengthened Hollow. It led him to the point of no return. He reached a place that would let him kill, if only he could be alone for once.

There was no one to care about other than the Heartless.

Now, though, that stupid Axel woke him up every day, early in the morning, before the Heartless could. It annoyed him, and he was bored of playing tricks on Axel. Mostly, Hollow kept to himself and read. Soon, though, he'd read all the books in this Castle Oblivion, and he actually had to TALK to people.

Like Larxene. Hollow changed into his usual clothes, consisting of long, dark pants and a soft, loose shirt with no sleeves. He didn't wear shoes - it amused him when the people here glanced at his hands and legs, seeing the tones of ebony and faltering slightly. Hollow looked around his room. He made his white bed, picked the ivory dishes up off his peeling white dresser, and walked across the lighter-than-cream coloured carpet. It was plush under his bare feet, but it didn't soothe him. He was usually a wreck when he had nothing to read and nowhere to go. It meant that he'd have to deal with those people.

Hollow hated all this white, too. Why were they constantly pushing the Light on him when they were so proud of their "darkness." Their Darkness. Hollow scorned them for associating what they did with the beauty of Darkness. Evil wasn't black. As far as Hollow was concerned, evil was white. He shook away the thoughts as he walked out of his room.

Hollow dumped the dishes in the kitchen, not even glancing at the people around him. They could crawl back under their rocks for all he cared. Then he walked out of it, on his way to the library.

For a while, he was walking alone, but then someone's footsteps got closer. They were lighter than his, faster, and they were walking on eggshells. Larxene. She crept up to Hollow's side, glancing nervously up at Hollow.

"Hey," she said breathlessly. Hollow barely glanced at her, giving her a look that made her feel incredibly self-concious. She swallowed nervously, just as he'd planned. Then she looked down, saw his black feet, and snapped her head back up.

"Yeah?" Hollow muttered, annoyed. She was always following him. It was still annoying. She pulled an antennae-like lock of hair, a nervous reaction. Hollow decided to be rude.

"Listen," he said, pulling her aside. "You gel your hair back, you dress like them, you're trying to be like the big boys, right?"

Larxene nodded, scared. Her eyes stared up at him, as if she was praying for something to happen between them. Hollow became aware of what she was thinking and pulled his hand away from her shoulder. Then, he folded his arms. "Well, if you want to BE a big boy, stop coming onto me. I hate you. I hate this place, and the only one you seem like now is Marluxia. Tell him to cut it out, too. You're both annoying, and I need you to leave me the heck alone."

Hollow hated talking. His voice was raspy and hoarse from his very few words because he mostly spoke through his mind, and only to the Heartless. Larxene just stared at him, big eyes filling with tears.

Then she acted like he thought she would. She clenched her fists, shaking her tears away, and she glared up at Hollow. She looked like she was going to take a swing at him, but she didn't.

"You think you're so great-" she started, but Hollow interrupted.

"I think Axel is just as desperate as you are. You two are close to being the same age. Go give him your heart - Oh, wait. I destroyed it. Silly me." Hollow glared, satisfied with her pain. She was sickened by him, but she liked him.

"You're sadistic, he needs pain to feel good... It'd work out between you two. But I won't take your... idiocy. So leave me alone." Hollow had done his share of words for today. Now Larxene ran off. He was alone again. Good.

He sighed. She wasn't really attracted to him - she was just playing hard to get for Axel, and Axel hated Hollow, so it was perfect. He would NOT be part of her little plan, though, and he didn't want to associate with any of them. Keep their little false-love lives to themselves.

Now he was in the - big surprise - white-themed library. He settled down with a book he hadn't read too many times, but he was interrupted by someone who sat across from him.

Hollow groaned inwardly. It wasn't Larxene - it was worse. It was Vexen.

"What do you want, you greaseball?" Hollow asked, annoyed. Vexen looked eager. He brought out...

A chess set.

"Oh, for the love of..." Hollow trailed off as Vexen set up the chess pieces.


End file.
